Several of the big hailstorms that came through this spring/summer did enough damage to our roof that our insurance company is going to spring for us a new roof.. The wife and I are "THAT" close to having decided on a metal roof. It's probably as close as I'll get in the next decade or so to living in a log house... One of the big decisions I need to make is, should I leave the existing shingles on and have the installer lay the slats down on top of that and go from there, or strip it all bare to the decking? Had a guy come out and look at it yesterday who's installed upwards of 200 metal roofs, and he said it's really six of one and half-a-dozen of the other... if we leave the shingles, that'll provide the vapor barrier that's needed between the metal roofing and the decking. If we tear it up, he'll have to lay down some sort of lining on top of the decking that'd serve a similar purpose... Anyone knowledgeable about such things?
I dont know much about them other that the one I put on when I built my pole barn but I know at least 12 people that has them including my parents. They all love them so far. Dont know about taking off the shingles or leaving them on. A metal roof looks killer
Thanks, Dan.. if you happen to talk to any of them in the next month or so and think of it, ask them about theirs for me. Yeah, I think they're awesome too... and we've got this breakfast nook in the back that comes out into this gazebo-like roof structure that the contractor said would make for a very pretty roof with all the cuts he'd have to do... I'm really looking forward to sleeping under it with a steady downpour too.
Don't know much about installing them Greg, but I wish I had put them on all the cabins when we were replacing roofs or building new buildings.
Yeah, Dan... my wife and I have noticed that all the city's structures or anything that needs to LAST, they put metal roofs on.... I was originally concerned that they'd be even more susceptible to hail damage, but discovered quickly that they actually hold up much better to hail.
All of our cabins that get remodeled get metal roofs. The only one I've put on myself was on the sauna I built last fall. The good: -durable -sheds snow -looks awesome The bad: -the metal gets hot in the sun, if you have to be up on your roof, it can make your shoes slick and burn your skin -sheds snow (up here they constantly shed snow, but I'm not always around when it happens. Snow falls, compacts, refreezes into a drift of ice that's a pain to shovel. I feel safer walking on shingles when doing inspections or staining for instance. But if you don't ever need to be up there, go metal! On the installation front, take the shingles off... just seems lazy covering it up. You'll have a truer surface to screw the metal on as well. I'm no expert, but there's my 2 cents
I just installed one today on the house we are working on. We never take the shingles off when we put a metal roof on, we just make sure that we put the screws in where the shingles lap over each other. That way there wont be any dents or wrinkles in the tin. We measure up to the first lap of the shingles, then put screws every 20" after that. Half of the house was new construction, and half of the house was a remodel. On the remodel part, the shingles were left on and covered with the metal. On the new part, we covered the roof in a moisture barrier. I think it was called Titanium UDL or something like that, but regular 30 lb tar paper is what we normally use. Also, a ridge vent helps out a lot (if you don't already have gable vents or something). If I ever build my own house, I will definitely put a metal roof on it. No need to worry about replacing your shingles after so many years, and it is a hell of a lot easier to install than slaving away shingling your roof.
I did my cabin in a metal roof, it's been great so far. It was new construction so I had to go with the heavy paper. I never put one on over shingles but I wouldn't think it would hurt to leave them on.
My BIL used to sell them. If I could have afforded it I would have put one on my house. They look and last great, but cost a lot.
If the insurance company is going to cover the expense, you might as well have them tear off the shingles and put new paper down. Doesn't really make a difference though.
